Tag Archives: Matt Ryan

I woke up today feeling sick. Not 100% sure it’s from watching last night’s game, riding the roller coaster called the Ravens defense, but I’m about 87% sure that’s it. As nauseated as I am, here are my thoughts on a great Thursday Night Football game: Continue reading →

The Baltimore Ravens, after 9 weeks of the 2010 NFL season, are the best team in the entire league. Think about it. The offense has developed far beyond anything any Ravens team has ever had, and it even continues to develop after Flacco was dismantled in week 2 by the Bengals (he has the highest QB-rating since week 3). But more importantly, the defense is healthy, gelling, and finally playing to its notorious potential. Statistics may say otherwise, but everything about this Ravens’ team indicates league superiority. The Ravens have beaten the NY Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers, while barely losing a 10-point lead to the New England Patriotsin Foxborough after their bye. And I don’t mean to make excuses for the Ravens’ losses, but if the Ravens were to see any team on a neutral field (i.e.: Super Bowl), I’d have full confidence they would pull out a victory…

Now, the most important part of that last sentence is the words “neutral field.” Tonight, the Ravens square off against the Falcons in Atlanta, where the Falcons are currently 4-0 in the season. I could list a bunch of other statistics regarding the Falcons’ home dominance, but I’m sure if you’ve heard anything about tonight’s game, you’ve already heard all of them. On a neutral field, I can easily say the Ravens would win 4 out of 5 games against the Falcons, but because the game is in Atlanta, I’m hesitant to confidently pick either team to win. Now, I think where the Ravens have the edge is their defensive unit. Regardless of how good Matt Ryan is in the Georgia Dome, Ed Reed is one of those players that will be one of the, if not the, most important factor(s) to consider.

I’m a proud Ravens fan, but I’m approaching this game as neutrally as possible… it’s a good thing Ravens win when things are neutral! I see Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata, and Ed Reed making the difference in this game. Flacco & Ryan and Rice & Turner will cancel each other out. Ravens win 27-23.

*Update* Well, wasn’t that wishful thinking? Flacco and Ryan did cancel each other out, and Rice actually won the RB battle, but where the game slipped away was actually where I thought the Ravens had an advantage: DEF. Suggs stepped his game up, but Lewis and Reed both didn’t play their best games. We can point fingers at the Ravens CBs, who are finally starting to solidify themselves as liabilities, but as an entire defense, we weren’t good enough to stop the Falcons. Valiant effort by the Ravens, but not enough to stop a stellar performance by Matt Ryan and Roddy White. Falcons won 26-21.